Did you know the Swiss army knife was invented over 120 years ago? Yet despite its age, it’s still going strong a century after its creator, Karl Esener, combined several useful tools in a single implement. What’s the secret behind its longevity? It adheres to several enduring principles characteristic of most long-lived products:
These same principles that make the Swiss army knife a steadfast, dependable tool form the foundation of the F900 3D printer, quoted by customers as a true FDM “workhorse.” While the latter is a bit more sophisticated than the former, the outcomes they produce are the same: dependable service and a proven track record that still allows room for continued innovation.
Make no mistake, the F900 can be a significant investment for any organization. But it also represents the top tier of sophistication and capability for an industrial FDM additive manufacturing system. This is likely one of the primary reasons manufacturers embrace it – it has the tools to get the job done, whether it’s the capacity to print large parts, the right materials to make spacecraft components, or anything in between. And it does it with the proven accuracy and dependability manufacturers expect.
Plyform is an Italian supplier of composite aerospace structures. The company adopted 3D printing to make tooling for composite parts because it’s less costly and more time-efficient than making traditional metal tools. The F900’s large build chamber accommodates substantial parts that aerospace companies need to print, and ULTEM™ 1010 resin, one of the F900’s high-performance thermoplastics, provides the material properties for 3D printed mold tooling.
“The F900 offers the best precision and repeatability of all additive manufacturing technologies we’ve tried,” says Luca Ceriani, Plyform’s head of manufacturing engineering.
Another aerospace company, U.K.-based BAE Systems, also reaps value from the F900’s capacity and material versatility. BAE Systems’ F900s are tapped for multiple applications and run 24/7 to support space models, design verification prototypes, manufacturing tools, and production parts.
“We installed our latest F900 3D printer towards the end of last year, mainly to bolster our capacity as we increase our use of FDM technology, but also because of the ongoing material advances that give us an advantage when it comes to tooling applications,” says Greg Flanagan, BAE Systems’ additive manufacturing operations lead.
These are just two examples from the 1000+ installed F900s where customers leveraged its capacity, material versatility, reliability, and repeatability to improve their manufacturing process.
Just as the Swiss army knife has adapted to meet modern uses, the F900 has also received new features to keep pace with the needs of manufacturers.
Two new printer tips offer a higher extrusion rate and thicker bead application to decrease time-to-part, particularly for larger builds. The T40A and T40C tips print with a 0.020 inch layer thickness using ULTEM™ 9085 resin and FDM® Nylon 12CF materials, respectively. The thicker beads mean a part builds more quickly, allowing a faster production rate. Print speeds are geometry-dependent, but we’ve seen increases up to 40% on some large Nylon 12CF parts. Although the stair-stepping surface finish may be slightly more pronounced depending on the part’s shape, this isn’t a problem when surface resolution is secondary to the priority of getting parts in hand quicker.
In the material department, F900 customers can now benefit from the addition of Validated Materials. Stratasys Validated Materials are thermoplastics developed by a third party and meet Stratasys quality standards validated through basic reliability testing on Stratasys FDM printers. This new material class increases the F900’s material portfolio, enabling faster introduction of new materials that help open new applications. A case in point is Kimya PC-FR; this fire-resistant polycarbonate meets rail industry smoke and fire standards, making it a perfect material for low-volume applications like obsolete part replacement.
The F900 embodies FDM technology that has been vetted and proven by countless customers and years of “doing the job” day after day. But more importantly, the F900 is continually evolving with new features and capabilities, offering additional value to meet the changing needs of manufacturers. The new T40 tips and Validated Materials that include colored ULTEM™ 9085 resins are just two recent updates, with more benefit-rich advancements on the horizon.
For organizations that need reliable industrial additive manufacturing capabilities, the Stratasys F900 should be on the shortlist for systems under consideration. To learn more about the F900’s capabilities and value, visit the F900 product web page. There, you’ll find access to much more information, including customer case studies, a comparison with other Stratasys FDM printers, and a link to our white paper on the validation of FDM repeatability and performance.
